Consumer Unit and Freezer

[IanNE]

I've recently bought this consumer unti and I've read that its best to install freezers on a dedicated RCBO..

http://www.screwfix.com/p/wylex-10-way-high-integrity-consumer-unit-10-mcbs/66470

Is it possible to do this with this consumer unit, or would I need a different one..

Any suggestions are appreciated..

Thanks

 

[JohnW2]

Is it possible to do this with this consumer unit ...

In a word, yes. It would require a little tweaking of the arrangement of devices (and, obviously, discarding of one of the MCBs, to be replaced by the RCBO), but it should have come with all the bits needed to do that.

Kind Regards, John

 

[RF Lighting]

Yes it is possible, but would you notice in time that your freezer had tripped before all your food was ruined?

I bet you'd notice if your telly went off at the same time.

 

[JohnW2]

Yes it is possible, but would you notice in time that your freezer had tripped before all your food was ruined? I bet you'd notice if your telly went off at the same time.

I agree, but quite a lot of people seem keen on this idea - the usual argument being that something else might trip an RCD whilst they are on holiday (although I'm not sure what would be likely to do that if the house was unoccupied).

Kind Regards, John

 

[securespark]

It is High Integrity, so it will have an extra busbar that fits to the mainswitch, allowing unprotected ways adjacent. How many I'm not sure, it depends on the board.

The beauty of having a freezer on an RCBO, not an RCD is that it remain on if the RCD trips. If you want some means of noticing it is off, you could wire a socket with a low-draw LED plug-in glowlight off the freezer socket.

 

[JohnW2]

The beauty of having a freezer on an RCBO, not an RCD is that it remain on if the RCD trips. If you want some means of noticing it is off, you could wire a socket with a low-draw LED plug-in glowlight off the freezer socket.

The trouble with that is that it's very likely that no-one would notice that the glowlight had gone off, either. One really needs something like a buzzer which comes on when the freezer supply fails (which is easy enough to engineer) or a freezer alarm which activates when the freezer temp starts rising (which detects freezerfailure as well as power failure).

Kind Regards, John

 

[PrenticeBoyofDerry]

Best option would be dedicated circuit/socket without RCD protection or hard wired to S/fcu with earthshield cable or even an auto resetting device.

 

[JohnW2]

Best option would be dedicated circuit/socket without RCD protection or hard wired to S/fcu with earthshield cable or even an auto resetting device.

People often say that, but I would have thought it would be incredibly unlikely that a 'nuisance trip' would occur in a dedicated freezer RCBO. I would have thought that if the RCBO tripped, it would nearly always be because something had happened to the freezer which would render it inoperative (or, at least, not safe to operate), wouldn't you?

Kind Regards, John

 

[PrenticeBoyofDerry]

People often say that, but I would have thought it would be incredibly unlikely that a 'nuisance trip' would occur in a dedicated freezer RCBO. I would have thought that if the RCBO tripped, it would nearly always be because something had happened to the freezer which would render it inoperative (or, at least, not safe to operate), wouldn't you?

I would agree in most cases that would be a fair assumption!

 

[viewer]

Considering that London Fire Brigade warn that FFs are the most likely pieces of equipment to cause a fire, I'd go for an RCBO.
These might be useful if you're worried about an un-noticed trip:
http://www.ultrasecuredirect.com/acatalog/mains_power_failure_alarm.html

 

[JohnW2]

Considering that London Fire Brigade warn that FFs are the most likely pieces of equipment to cause a fire, ...

If you are taling about this , then I don't think that's what it says. The LFB appear to be calling for higher safety standards for FFs (particularly in terms of materials/construction) because, if they are involved in fires (whether they are the cause of the fire or not), they can result in the fire spreading very rapidly and producing toxic fumes:

Modern fridges and freezers are the ‘most dangerous household appliance when involved in a fire’, according to a new report from the London Fire Brigade (LFB).

and

London Fire Brigade wants to see tougher standards so that the highly flammable insulation used in fridges and freezers is made safer from fire. This could involve separating the insulation from the electrical parts with a fire proof material and, in case a fire starts outside of the fridge or freezer and spreads to it, totally encasing the insulation

How common FFs are as a cause I fires, I Don't know (I'll look it up if/when I have a moment), but there are surely domestic appliances that are much more likely to (dryers, heaters etc.)?

I'd go for an RCBO.

As I've been saying/implying, so would (and do) I - but not because I believe that FFs are the most common cause of electrical fires. Having said that, I doubt that an RCBO would presvent (m)any fires that an OPD wouldn't prevent.

These might be useful if you're worried about an un-noticed trip: ...

Indeed. As I said, power failure alarms are a solution to that. However, I prefer freezer alarms, since they will detect a failed/faulty freezer as well as a power supply failure. One could have both.

Kind Regards, John

 

[ban-all-sheds]

And when you go on holiday, leave a loose icecube in the freezer.

If on your return it has gone but everything is frozen, then either you've got arctic mice with a penchant for G&T, or something happened while you were away which caused things to defrost.

 

[jamesmcbride]

And when you go on holiday, leave a loose icecube in the freezer.

If on your return it has gone but everything is frozen, then either you've got arctic mice with a penchant for G&T, or something happened while you were away which caused things to defrost.

So you should you also leave a mouse trap in front of the freezer?

 

[ericmark]

Yes it is possible, but would you notice in time that your freezer had tripped before all your food was ruined?

I bet you'd notice if your telly went off at the same time.

This is a very valid point. My house had extras installed and this comes from a second consumer unit both consumer units having their own RCD.

When the main RCD trips the emergency light at top of stair well lighting or at night other lights not working gives quick indication of the failure. But when the other one fails it can take quite some time before we notice.

The fridge freezer, microwave, cooker, all have LED or LCD indication so we should notice but in real terms we don't. My son put the alarm panel on same circuit as fridge/freezer as it screams at you when there is a power failure. One can also get rechargeable torches which sit on a charging unit and auto light with power failure.

However my mothers kitchen is all RCBO protected and in the two years since completed no RCBO has ever tripped. So with that in mind if I was to replace my consumer unit I think I would go for all RCBO and take a chance that the RCBO will only trip with a true fault.

As to ice cube good idea but would add salt to water so it will melt before freezer heats to zero degrees.

 

[JohnW2]

And when you go on holiday, leave a loose icecube in the freezer. If on your return it has gone but everything is frozen, then either you've got arctic mice with a penchant for G&T, or something happened while you were away which caused things to defrost.

That's one approach. Many freezer thermometers provide min/max readings, and many freezer alarms also include such functionality.

Having said that, I can think of little other than a 'power cut' that would cause the temperature within a freezer to rise to an unacceptable level and then return to 'normal', and I would have thought that a power cut of sufficient duration (probably well over 24 hours) to cause that to happen whilst the house was unoccupied (hence freezer never being opened) would be extremely unlikely.

Kind Regards, John